IperionX (ASX:IPX) has received US$12.5 million ($19.29 million) from the US Department of Defense (DoD) to accelerate expansion of titanium production at the company’s Titanium Manufacturing Campus in Virginia.
The funding will be applied to purchase orders for long-lead, major capital equipment required for the next stage of capacity to scale-up to over 1,000 tonnes per year at Virginia.
Major incremental capacity categories include titanium deoxygenation, sintering and powder metallurgy consolidation systems, and near-net-shape component manufacturing and ancillary infrastructure upgrades.
IperionX, which has a market capitalisation of $2.21 billion, will provide an update with additional details on the accelerated growth plans for the Virginia campus in due course.
The total funding obligations received under the DoD award now stand at US$17.5 million, with the remaining US$29.6 million expected to be obligated by the DoD over the contract term to support additional titanium production capacity at Virginia.
CEO Anastasios Arima says this new US Government obligation allows the company to move immediately to secure long-lead requirements and lock in manufacturing slots with key suppliers.
“It accelerates our imminent Virginia expansion beyond 1,000 tonnes per year of high-performance titanium manufactured products, and advances a fully integrated, low-cost, and traceable American titanium supply chain for defence and commercial customers,” Arima says.
“We are executing a multi-phase modular scale-up in titanium production and manufacturing capacity – and this commitment from this DoD is a strong endorsement of our technology, our team, and our missions to reshore a resilient titanium production supply chain in the US.”
The award, of up to $47.1 million from the US Government, aims to strengthen the US defence industrial base, as Mining.com.au previously reported.
IperionX is a titanium metal and critical materials company focused on using patented metal technologies to produce high-performance titanium alloys, from titanium minerals or scrap titanium, at lower energy, cost, and carbon emissions.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: IperionX
